And let’s not forget that they bought out Armstrong, which from a Leafs standpoint is a good thing(the guy never delivered and this leaves a tad of cap space).

And then, the Habs signed him on a VERY LOW risk 1 year deal for a million bucks. Supposing he’s all healed up and delivers the goods(being a physical pest who can score the occasionnal goal), then that would end up being a great signature by Bergevin AND a good riddance for Burke and the Leafs Nation.

Montreal picked up a lot of solid bottom line players (which is about all you can do in this free agency if you don’t want to overpay). They may not end up being a overly talented team or even a playoff team this year but they sure as hell will be a strong, physical team.

Well, you know what, so far i can’t complain. My buddies and i disagree on the Bouillon signing. I love the guy, he’s my kind of player, huge heart, and at 1,5m for a year, it can’t be bad. But, i can’t figure out where he fits… Markov, Suban, Gorges, Emelin, Diaz, Kaberle, Weber and now Bouillon. A couple of d-men here. I think a trade is on the horizon.

I love Prust but he got overpaid by 500k/year in my opinion, and Armbo is ok for a year. The only contract i don’t like is Moen. While Bergevin didn’t overpay, i think he’s not physical enough for my taste. However, if we get annoyed, he can easliy be traded, EASILY.

So far, we got tougher and…….tougher. But Bergevin has been methodical so far. However, he reminds me of Gauthier, he makes small, semi-significant moves. I hope it’s just the fact that he’s new in the GM seat and that he’s just warming up.

John Lu reports that bergevin looked into Jagr and semin but felt they didn’t fit… So he will go ahead and allow young players like gallagher and leblanc to try and fit into the top6 scoring position at training camp and go from there ….

Boullion fits right in… As far as I’m concerned there’s no thoughts as to who our top six starting defense is..

Haha hey I don’t care if you call me out. You may be annoying at times but you can usually rationalize and give adequate reasoning for your positions. As long as your not insinuating I’m some moron troll lol. I have to think I’m somewhat better at arguing than a usually internet troll.

Oh don’t get me wrong, not even attempting Suter, Parise or trading for Nash, arguably because the contracts are out of hand, its a giant oxymoron considering the “warchest” of funds MLSE or whatever conglomerate owns the team has.

He’s kept saying trades trades trades. well, he has to prove it. He has a ton of work ahead of him.

At least he’s not being moronic and saying “we’re making the playoffs”. He seems to have learned there.

I sort of get his motives for not wanting to spend mega bucks on the two especially with the CBA coming up. I don’t agree with it but I can see his reasons for it. Just like I see why you and everyone else (including me) would not be happy he’s not going after them.

But your right. Burke keeps mentioning trades, trades, trades. JVR was the biggest one since Lupul. Burke needs to keep on the trades and building a young competitive team for the future through trades. He can’t keep mentioning it and then having only one trade every year and a half (yes wallace, I’m with you on that point. Not plagiarizing since I’m giving you credit :P).

Either that or he needs to come out and say the Leafs are not making the playoffs and will be going through a longer rebuild. It hasn’t gone as expected and the team needs to get a few more pieces to compete properly.

I feel like the fans would be very willing to accept a bottom 5 finish if he says he was wrong and doesn’t build up expectations. Chances are we’d have a shot at either MacKinnon, or a big top line potential centerman (Barkov or Monohan, both big centers with huge potential). ALthough I could totally see Burke passing on all three for the big US defender Jones (who should not be above Barkov or MacKinnon). I would completely turn on Burke then

Hey whoa…. I called you negative not because you’re hating on your leafs… I’m a habs fan and ill be one to my grave… I wasn’t defending burke and nor will I try to … I only defended his move of Armstrong because it was smart for the organization…

I called you negative because all my other comments, you had some sarcastic Debbie downer remark to say back to me… Nothing to do with burke buddy

I agree that Tim is the only Habs fan who has a clue. At least Timmy doesn’t just come on here and say “Habs will winning Cup! Kessel would playing on Habs 3rd line!” – true paraphrased, condensed quotes. (that quote should be read with a french accent, grammar errors are intentional.)

Foligno isn’t a huge loss.. latendresse despite being somewhat soft for a power forward will suffice.. and guys like smith and stone will fit in nicely and add any lost toughness… Your only really losing kenopkas willingness to drop the mits

As per TSN, Detroit, Philly, Pittsburgh, and Minny are the 4 teams that have made an offer for both Parise and Suter. If Pittsburgh gets both they will be Stanley cup favourites for the better part of the next decade.

What more can be done to shore that up? That’s what Steckel was supposed to do, Connolly too. Lombardi even. How many more iterations of top PK guys are we going to go through before it gets fixed? I seriously think it was the system that they tried to employ over and over again.

Some of these contracts are way to much for what the players actually bring to the table, IMO.

I love Prust but 2.5 m for 4 years way too much. Garrison 6 years 4.6m, he’s had one decent season. Souray 3 yrs 3.67 the Oilers bought him out of a similar contract and he’s older and slower. Gausted was a guy I was hoping the Flames would target but not at 3.25 for 4yrs for a 3rd line center.

Has the cap reset???…. How would that even be plausible with half the teams in the league already near the 70mil ceiling…. Which party is even going to negotiate that?…. That’s just something that won’t happen… Everyone is always worried about the cap falling…. Hasn’t the past 5-6 years and the nhl is profitable… So I don’t see it happening ANY time soon… It’ll go up again and I’m willing to bet it hits 100 million…. 2.5 doesn’t sound high then does it

And yes its possible (maybe not likely) that the the cap could go down. Most likely it would be combined with an amnesty clause to buy out or not count one detrimental contract. The NHL is going to want to keep the cap as low as possible there are already teams struggling to hit the floor and many more clubs in financial problems.

The league is going to try and address this in the new CBA that will be negotiated. Right now players get about 57% of hockey revenue. Other leagues are closer to 50/50. Additionally, Bettman has warned teams that it is a possibility the cap will be reset at the implementation of the new CBA. Since the old CBA expires in September a new CBA could result in the cap dropping from 70million to the mid 60’s and then increase with revenues going forward.

In short there is a possibility that the next time the NHL plays games the cap will be below 70 million.

I don’t see the cap at 100 million in 4 years maybe 7-9 years if everything goes well.

The only reason bettman and his goons would want that is to keep afloat the financially unstable teams.. the bottom feeders in terms of revenue generating…sure it may be smart in that one track minded sense on keeping teams (who generally have no business having an nhl team to begin with I.e. Phoenix) afloat…but bringing back the cap 5-6 million could cause more problems than its worth logistically…. Even with the amnesty clause not every team has a 5 million dollar contract they would want to buy-out… Some players are still valuable even at an inflated price.. I just see something like that causing bettman a lot of trouble.. but I’m no business major so what do I know

The NHLPA also has a vested interest in more teams as it means more enrollment in the union. They don’t care as much about the location of the teams merely the watered down talent level.

The only team that is within 5 million of the 70 million cap right now is the Bruins and with Savard and possibly Thomas most likely not counting it wouldn’t be difficult to cut the cap a couple million. Sure teams have to fill out some rosters but the vast majority of teams have 10+ million to sign a few players.

Montreal has 20 players and 15 million in space I don’t see then getting closer the 4 million to the cap. If a team signs both but I doubt that happens.

Last year there were 4-5 teams that were over the cap at this point. I still believe a team can exceed it by 10% until the opening of training camp and no team has, yet. I think the uncertainty of the new CBA is a big factor in this. Whether the cap is reset or not clubs are a little leery of pushing the cap envelope this year.

It’s going to be interesting to see how the CBA negotiations transpire.

More fascinating to me are teams that need to hit the cap floor (16 million below the cap). Contracts with cap hits in excess of there actual dollars could become desirable to teams seeking the floor.

I feel like Bergevin isn’t done with our group of forwards…. Eller geoffrion and palusaj all are rfa and need something done.. and with Ryan white healthy it creates a lot of competition for the bottom six with the Prust and Armstrong signings… I just feel like he isn’t done yet…

Well moments after saying I don’t think Bergevin is done, I read articles of various media outlets… Tsn being one…. That he is still working in deals….. Most probably for Price and Subban … But one noteworthy addition could be fellow country mate of Tomas Plekanec, Jaromir Jagr……I for one would welcome that signing extremely….. Jagr showed he can still be effective and is yet another big body who can play physical…

Looks good to me for a season or two… I can get behind that until gomez gionta are off the books and kaberle ….. Bringing in galchenyuk beaulieu and a big free agent…… Im feeling excited for the future

i like our team and roster going forward timi wouldn’t pencil gomez into our line up he’l either be in hamilton or bought outi think bergevin is done yet either i have a feeling we’ll sign jagr for a year and he’ll play with plekanec and gionta on the 2nd line and the 3rd line will be ellar,bourque ,moen /prust

Well eller and diaz need a contract still… Something needs to be done with gomez definitely…. Kaberle and bourque won’t be healthy scratches to start the season I’m sorry… Too much money to sit on the sidelines right off the bat… Kaberle still has some value.. albeit not like in his career years but still….also I think our d pairings would be better suited having the two Russians together.. one mentoring the other.. more respect right away I think… Gorges subban as the number one works just fine.. stay at home to subbans rushing style…. Boullion as a third pairing just makes us well rounded.. kaberle rounds it out…

You say Bergevin is done you think… I don’t see how he can be… The addition of Jagr would be huge … But trades need to happen….. Gomez bourque plekanec eller gionta weber diaz are all on the block in my opinion…. Maybe not plekanec if he can sign Jagr though…. But i think hell make a deal if it makes sense for any or all those guys…. Obviously the return won’t be substantial but something has to be done…

And Nords, as far as physicality goes… Tgats what boullion was brought in for… No one can deny that guys heart or his strength…. Also we have emelin now who plays a physical game and subban as well….. I think the big problem is just size on the backend… Boulliin plays like he’s 6’7 but there’s something to be said when he’s in the corner against a Rick nash … Or bobby Ryan… Or Milan lucic

Since Burke is mostly interested in trades, I see a few options out there:

Evander Kane – In his first 3 seasons, he ended up with 3 less goals than Kessel did in his first 3 seasons. They are both pure snipers with tremendous speed. Kane though adds a more physical element.

I think he’s a good player to pursue. Even with an offer sheet though the Jets would almost certainly match. They could do something similar and offer a similar package as they did to Boston to get Kessel. 2 1sts and a 2nd.

He could either outright offer 2 future 1sts, or trade two former first rounders off his roster. I am thinking Joe Colborne and Nazem Kadri. Those two, with maybe MacArthur to a) open cap space and b) a top 6 roster spot, could be enough to perhaps sway the Jets to move Kane to Toronto. I would even offer a 2nd as well.

or maybe:
To Winnipeg: one of Joe Colborne/Nazem Kadri, a 2013 1st round pick, a 2014 2nd round pick.

Its a ton, but Kane is exactly the kind of players Burke pursues. A player who is young and can be part of the long term future with the Leafs. A player though who could help immediately. A top 6 forward who has a physical edge to his game filling a hole in the lineup. A player who may be more interested in leaving their current situation for somewhere new.

Kane is the kind of player Burke aggressively goes after. And the guess offer above is not far off from what they gave up for Kessel (before knowing it was Seguin and Hamilton).

Jonathan Bernier – Forget Luongo, Bernier is the kind of Burke should pursue. He’s ready for a no. 1 job. He isn’t a veteran, putting the Leafs similar to last season with inexperience in goal, but, he is a former top 10 pick with an absolute ton of talent.

He’d easily solidify the Leafs goaltending problems and he is another kind of player Burke tends to go after. He wants out of LA, stuck behind Quick and his 10 year contract. He wants an opportunity, which Toronto could easily give him, and he is affordable money wise.

As for assets, well a 1st round pick may be what it takes. Its a steep price indeed. Or, it would be something like Colborne or Kadri straight up for Bernier.

To LA: 1st round pick in 2013
To Tor: Bernier

or

To LA: Joe Colborne or Nazem Kadri
To Tor: Bernier.

Its really dependent on Allaire I guess. Burke tends to just get guys Allaire likes. In that case, if he isn’t a Bernier fan (and Bernier only stands 5’11 and isnt a true blocker that Allaire likes, he’s actually a goalie) well the point is moot, he wont be a leaf.

Kyle Clifford – If not Bernier from LA, why not Clifford? Clifford is big, rugged and can handle himself if he drops the gloves.

He does though come with a concussion history. He missed most of the playoffs because of it.

But, in that case, maybe he comes a bit cheaper than normal 21 year old players.

He was in the top 30 in hits which is pretty good considering he averaged less than 10 minutes a game. He is a banger/crasher the team needs.

I’d offer up a couple of prospects or like a D’Amigo and a 3rd for him. I think if he is fully healed, he’d be a big help now and down the road.

Steve Ott – Ott is still a fav of mine and the perfect tonic to add to the Leafs roster. He is all the fav adjectives Burke uses: Truculence, Pugnacity, Belligerence, he’d be a boon to the Leafs lineup.

They need someone to push back. they need someone with an edge. They need to be aggressive. Ott would do all that.

I think offering up Bozak and prospect Jesse Blacker for him would be worth it.

I’d love to see Burke get Kane and add Brodeur. Brodeur wouldn’t be a long term contract and would be great to take pressure off Riems and leave Scrivens in the minors to develop.

Kane has better upside than Nash (IMO), the kid is tough as nails and given that Buffalo and the Habs are getting bigger and grittier up front along with Boston we’ll need to be tougher. Kane can fight, score and hit, he’s a prototypical power forward. I totally sub biting the bullet on him.

I really want to keep our 1st as it’ll likely be a lottery pick so I wouldn’t want to give it up to gamble on Bernier, this guy looks ok but he could easily be another Toskala or Raycorft.

I’m not demanding a center as it looks like we’d have to get fleeced for one but another big piece up front and a band aid in goal should be possible and if Burke doesn’t deliver at least that much this summer will have to call this off season another failure.

why would you want your leafs to trade a potential top 3-5 pick again and hand the jets a shot at mackinnon that’s insane this kid is supposed to the next great young superstar he’s the exact player the leafs need to build there team around kane is a very good player but he’s no mackinnon so i think if that’s the leafs best option then you say no to the 2013 1st r.d pick and keep it,you guys should have learned your lesson by handing over a potential franchise player in seguin why let history repeat itself and do it agin with nathan mackinnon